Williamsburg Board of Education votes to approve tutor positions

The Williamsburg Independent Board of Education voted unanimously to approve instructional tutor positions during its Dec. 15 meeting.

The instructional tutors will be comprised of certified staff from within the district.

Superintendent Tim Melton said the plan is to have three tutors – one at the elementary, one at the middle and one at the high school levels. He said more tutors can be hired if the need arises and the funding allows.

Tutors will be able to offer one-on-one assistance, help students virtually or provide aid in small group sessions, said Melton.

The positions will exist for the time period of Jan. 1 to June 30, according to the agenda.

During the meeting, the board discussed that the tutors would be limited to 10 hours per week or approximately two hours after school each day.

The tutor positions are funded through the Berea Private Grant. With the grant, the district is not required to match funding.

During the meeting, the board also unanimously approved the Comprehensive District Improvement Plan (CDIP).

Melton described the CDIP as the, “roadmap for the work that we [the district] are doing.”

CDIPs are produced by each district in the state.

The board also unanimously elected Dr. John Jefferies and Kim Williams to serve as board chair and board vice-chair.

In addition to the Williamsburg Independent Board of Education meeting, the District’s Local Planning Committee hosted a public forum early last week.

Because no one attended the public forum, the meeting, “Set the groundwork of what the role of Local Planning Committee is,” said Melton.

“We have not had a district facilities plan. The last one was in 2013 and we had waiver in 2017 because we were going through a major renovation of the school,” said Melton.

The committee is tasked with developing a district facilities plan, but the board has not determined which projects it will pursue. The committee is expected to meet again in January.